Britain's High Street Gamble

[Zingari]

I occasionally have a flutter on a roulette machine and quite enjoy it. I have a set amount of money I'm willing to lose and don't go over it. I reckon over the years my return on income has been about -15%. Hardly the end of the world. I can see how people with no self control might end up spending too much, but I have my doubts about the level of addiction these machines are capable of creating. I am certainly not even close to being addicted in any way. To compare it to drugs like heroin or crack is way too much imo. The addiction level is probably closer to that of chocolate. The problem is the way they exploit people who are prone to making bad decisions. But can you protect people from themselves? And is it fair to prevent other people's sensible enjoyment in order to protect the minority?

I pretty much feel the same about it too.I just go the gee gees a couple of times a year and love it .

anyway ;

I'm not sure if this is feasible or possible or even legal , but a thought just popped into my head.

How about taxing the profits made from gambling so high that both the gamblers and the gaming companies end up being hardly able to profit from it , and give up ?

edit;

apart from betting at the racecourses !

[Guest Bilo]

I'm not saying that everybody who uses an FOBT is addicted, that'd be ridiculous.

What I am saying is that they prey on those who are susceptible to addiction, the vulnerable and the desperate. The term 'crack cocaine of gambling' was coined by Gamcare, who have to pick up the pieces when people do fall into the trap of addiction. If you 'have your doubts' about the level of addiction these things are creating, have a browse through the following articles. Have a look through the comments on the New Statesman article as well, sobering stuff.

http://www.newstates...om/200502210022

http://www.guardian....-addiction-debt

http://www.dailymail...-want-them.html

http://www.thisisbat...tail/story.html

[Webbo]

I pretty much feel the same about it too.I just go the gee gees a couple of times a year and love it .

anyway ;

I'm not sure if this is feasible or possible or even legal , but a thought just popped into my head.

How about taxing the profits made from gambling so high that both the gamblers and the gaming companies end up being hardly able to profit from it , and give up ?

edit;

apart from betting at the racecourses !

They had to scrap a lot of the betting tax because people were gambling on overseas websites that weren't under our jurisdiction.

[AoWW]

They had to scrap a lot of the betting tax because people were gambling on overseas websites that weren't under our jurisdiction.

Shouldn't you be on your way to Wembley?

[Guest Col city fan]

I'm not saying that everybody who uses an FOBT is addicted, that'd be ridiculous.

What I am saying is that they prey on those who are susceptible to addiction, the vulnerable and the desperate. The term 'crack cocaine of gambling' was coined by Gamcare, who have to pick up the pieces when people do fall into the trap of addiction. If you 'have your doubts' about the level of addiction these things are creating, have a browse through the following articles. Have a look through the comments on the New Statesman article as well, sobering stuff.

http://www.newstates...om/200502210022

http://www.guardian....-addiction-debt

http://www.dailymail...-want-them.html

http://www.thisisbat...tail/story.html

Is there not a strong argument to say that bookies are exactly where these gambling machines should be?

Or in Casinos?

If anything should be more closely regulated surely it should be the plethora of gambling websites that are all over the Internet? They 'hook' a far wider audience (including maybe even teenagers)? than the high street bookies or casinos ever could?

These sites provide a 'virtual audience', and enable the punter to lose a lot of money very quickly too don't they?

Maybe if anything should be more closely regulated its these websites? Or are they? To be honest I don't really know.

[Webbo]

Shouldn't you be on your way to Wembley?

Trains leaves at five to 2.Evening kick off.

[Father Ted]

The roulette machines make me laugh really. Anybody who gets addicted to them is onto a loser, I have no doubt in my mind that they are fixed, having watched numerous friends lose notes in them for fun. Seen people have much more joy on the live machines in Gala. Roulette is the devils game and I will never touch it.

[AoWW]

Trains leaves at five to 2.Evening kick off.

Ah, ok - just checking!

[Guest Bilo]

The roulette machines make me laugh really. Anybody who gets addicted to them is onto a loser, I have no doubt in my mind that they are fixed, having watched numerous friends lose notes in them for fun. Seen people have much more joy on the live machines in Gala. Roulette is the devils game and I will never touch it.

Add all of the numbers together on a roulette table and see what happens.

[Parafox]

Add all of the numbers together on a roulette table and see what happens.

666?

[Parafox]

Ahh those 2p machines at the seaside... thats where it all starts.

Piling in 2p after 2p, to win... more 2p's

[Bayfox]

Add all of the numbers together on a roulette table and see what happens.

I can't be bothered to try, but do you mean on the wheel? The table normally has more than one lot of numbers, for splits etc.Oh and as the Company I run does a fair percentage of work for Coral and has in the past worked with Ladbrokes, Paddy Power and a number of smaller bookies, I think we could do with more, i have kids to feed.

[purpleronnie]

I can't be bothered to try, but do you mean on the wheel? The table normally has more than one lot of numbers, for splits etc.Oh and as the Company I run does a fair percentage of work for Coral and has in the past worked with Ladbrokes, Paddy Power and a number of smaller bookies, I think we could do with more, i have kids to feed.

para's already answered it.

[21st Century Fox]

Facebook are getting in on the act now.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19162971

If you're going to target a 'mature' audience, plastering it in cartoons is definitely the way to go.

[Thracian]

These machines are nothing short of evil. I don't use that word very often, but in this case I think it's accurate.

Firstly, they are deliberately designed to be addictive. The 'near misses' as 36 comes out when you've selected 35, the 'patterns' that seem to form and the occasional big wins are all there on purpose and are aimed at one thing; making you have another spin and another and another. They're easy to play, fast paced and demand your attention in a way the old fruities never could.

The betting companies love them. Firstly, they are extremely addictive and have no language barrier, just the ticket if you want to fleece everyone in your local area. Secondly, the only costs that they incur are the electricity and the licence. All the staff have to do is pay out the winning tickets and empty them at the end of the night. No training involved, no expensive settling equipment, very few cash handling errors. There's no levy to pay the horse racing community as there is with 'over the counter bets.' Once you've paid the bare essentials, it's unencumbered profit. Here's the clincher, they're becoming less and less regulated. Someone wants to come into the shop and gamble away a month's wages in an hour? Easily done. Far more easily done than if it were on the dogs or horses, where the punter would have to face the shop staff and the staff themselves may express concern.

The downside? Yeah, calls to Gamcare and Gamblers' Anonymous are going through the roof. Gambling addiction related suicides are up to their highest levels since the introduction of betting shops. Thousands are racking up debts as long as their arms. But who cares about any of that when there's cold, hard cash to be made?

Gambling has never been the most ethical industry in the world, but these things are like legalising crack and selling it behind the bar of your local. They are massively, massively damaging to communities. It's no coincidence that betting shops are springing up in poor, working class communities either. The recession is still biting like a rabid dog and working class communities have been hit hard. There are plenty of people with little to do all day except look for jobs, and when there is no joy to be had they may hope to win a few quid on the horses. Now though, there's the superfast and attractive FOBT to play; and the promise of quick, easy money on a machine where no skill, knowledge of casino games or even social interaction is required makes them an attractive but dangerous prospect.

This might all seem hyperbolic but having worked in the industry for seven years up until last October, I've seen first hand just how insidious these machines are. I'd appeal to anyone visiting a betting shop to walk straight past the nasty little things and stick to your footie coupon or racecards, it's just too dangerous a game.

Couldn't agree more. These people are no better than the moneylenders who prey on the poor and those in difficulties, particularly within the big estates. Or the banks who entice young people to borrow far more than they can afford on their credit cards and then charge exhorbitant interest if they default.

When people are desperate they'll try anything to get the break they hope will lift them out of debt or improve their sense of hopelessness and despair. Acquiring money becomes an obsession and the stress of having none only makes it worse, as the predators well know and eagerly exploit.

There really needs to be a proper code of ethics between the business community and their customers. It's not just the gambling industry that needs to examine its principles because there are scams and malpractices to be found everywhere you look.

And, with so many businesses having a hard time through the intensity of competition and the difficulty in getting customers to part with cash they really need for other things, it is perhaps understandable but not acceptable that high pressure selling and different forms of temptation are ever more sophisticated and high-pressure.

Bottom line is we need a massive investment in worthwhile education and the creation of jobs - and particularly jobs where people can learn and gain qualifications or recognition for their skills as they go along.

If people are gainfully employed they won't have so much time to loiter around betting shops and they won't be so desperate to risk their last few shillings on the longshot of mending their broken lives.